Skiing at Alta Resort And Photographing Winter Beauty

I don’t often bring my camera skiing with me because, well, it’s a little sketchy to be carrying an expensive camera in my backpack all day. But, an email from my uncle about my photography inspired me to take my camera out with some friends that were visiting, which produced some amazing ski shots seen in my last post about Snowbird. The next day, I decided to take it out again and I was in for a real treat!

See, when I ski, I’m mostly there to ski, right? It’s about making those hard, fast turns on a groomer or making those soft, intentional fluffy powder turns deep in the woods. Every time I take a chair up to the top of the mountain, I look at the beauty of the snow-covered peaks and take it all in. Sometimes I take some photos on my phone, but most of the time, it’s go-go-go! I’ll take some videos here and there of my friends and produce some videos that I post to my Instagram (including some blooper videos as well), and that’s always a joy to me. But, I don’t take my camera out and line up a shot like I would when I hike in the summertime. Well, this past trip to Alta, it all changed.

I was supposed to be meeting up with my friends again, but they’d gotten stuck in the heavy weekend traffic coming up the canyon. I had some time to myself, so I took a chairlift up to one of the summits at Alta. It’s such a beautiful area. I’m always in awe every time I get to the top of this chair, specifically. It has some of the best views around! I took my camera out and slowly (and carefully) made the traverse along the cat track, slowing down to take pictures as I went.

The scene around me was a little hectic, but every time I raised my camera to my eye, it all faded away and I honed in on what I wanted. Alta ski patrol was doing avalanche work (shown below) on the Castle, and it was a beautiful sight to behold. The booms were loud and the snow sluffed off, creating some small sluff avalanches. I was lucky enough to capture the beautiful face before they opened the Castle traverse to the public and it got skied out!

As I moved down the cat track, I remembered how much I truly love composing an image with my camera. I haven’t taken it out in quite a while, and I usually take a decent, unintended break over winter just because photography seems less accessible, but with the ski shots I’ve gotten over the past few days and the glorious mountain peaks I’ve shot, it seems like there could be no offseason for me.

And honestly, I kind of like that. A lot.

Parting shot:

Next blog: Staying at Alta. Are you ready for some rad ski shots??